As of March,
2005:
Rhode Island
has been using Paper Ballots and Optical Scanners since 1997, initiated a few
years earlier by then-Secretary of State James Langevin, now a US congressman,
himself disabled.
Rhode Island
currently does NOT have a ballot-marking device BUT they want to purchase the
Automark and are waiting for its Federal certification, which Rhode Island and
the vendor expect within weeks, maybe a month. Rhode Island was "very
impressed" with the Automark at a recent demonstration.
For the
visually impaired Rhode Island currently uses a special type of tactile ballot
with a cassette player with headphones (Braille is an option also). The optical
scanner Rhode Island uses is from ES&S.
The type of ballot they use is the one in which the voter connects 2
arrows with a line, rather than filling in an oval.
http://www.electionaccess.org/publications/ET2001/02_01_Mindes.htm
"INTERVIEW:
Hon. James Langevin of the United States Congress"
by Jerry
Mindes
JM: When you
began your service as secretary of state, what was the status quo in terms of
electoral systems to address the needs of the disabled?
I actually
began working on election reform in 1988 as a state representative in the Rhode
Island General Assembly. When I became secretary of state in 1994, we made it
our top priority to overhaul our state system of elections. [The system was], I
would say, woefully lacking in accessibility and inclusion. We had the oldest
voting machines in the country, dating back to the Truman administration, and
they frequently broke down. The ballots were very long and you would have to
crouch down, actually [get on your] knees sometimes to read some of the
questions.
It was
difficult, if not next to impossible, for people with physical disabilities to
operate them. If they were going to vote on their own, they would have to go
around the side of the machine, pull on a lever, then go into the machine and
crank another lever over to the side to close the curtain. If you were in a
wheelchair, it would be very difficult to cover yourself in the voting booth
and try to reach up and cast your vote. To counter this, the booth had a stick
that could supposedly help you reach up and pull the lever. Well, being a
quadriplegic, I couldn't grab onto this stick and wouldn't have had the
strength to pull or push the lever up or down. I would need someone in the
machine with me to pull the levers, which deprived me of my right to a secret
ballot. [The system] didn't promote independent voting and secret ballots for
people with disabilities.
JM: What
reforms did you implement to improve Rhode Island's electoral system?
We went to
work to overhaul our entire state system of elections: getting rid of the old
Shoup-lever voting machines and ushering in new, state-of-the-art optical-scan
voting machines. These changes have made a tremendous difference in the way
Rhode Island conducts its elections. Rhode Island is now recognized as a
national leader in voting accessibility, in terms of equipment but also
physical access to a polling location.
JM: The
optical scan is a high-tech tool for voting. How do people with disabilities
use that technology?
This system
offered a host of advantages for people with disabilities. First of all, people
in wheelchairs or with other physical limitations, like myself, no longer
needed an assistant. I could fill out the ballot on my own, in secret.
Therefore, I had the right to a secret ballot restored. The ballots are
relatively easy to read and follow, and again I didn't need to bring someone
into the booth with me to fill the ballot out. That solved a lot of problems
for people with physical disabilities. But it still left people who were blind
or sight impaired out of the loop, and it made it difficult for them to vote
independently.
So we went
back to work, as a result of a constituent raising the issue to a local
councilman, who is a friend of mine and who brought it to my attention. We
worked with the Director of Elections, Jan Ruggiero, to find a solution to the
problem. We instituted the Braille and tactile ballot system for those who are
blind or sight-impaired because we found that one option wasn't going to be
sufficient. Just creating a Braille ballot didn't help those people who did not
read Braille, who were sight impaired, or who maybe needed a little
assistance…in reading the regular ballot. The tactile ballot is a system that
allows those who are sight-impaired to listen to an audiotape and follow a
series of raised lines on the ballot indicating their voting options.
JM: What
other aspects of the election system have you addressed in terms of making it
more accessible?
We certainly
made an effort to educate those who were disabled about the new system, both the
new optical scan equipment but also the new Braille and tactile ballot system.
I did some public service announcements and radio interviews. But in terms of
actually running elections, that responsibility rests with the State Board of
Elections. They were very involved with the Governor's Commission on
Disabilities, and also with boards of canvassers in local cities and towns, all
of whom were responsible for changes that were made and who deserve a great
deal of credit.
JM: As a
former secretary of state, as a person with a disability, what are your
thoughts on Internet voting and increased voting by mail?
Well, in
general, I am for anything that's going to increase voter participation rates
and be more inclusive. I haven't yet come out in support for vote by mail
systems…or by the Internet. I think there is a real benefit to society when
citizens come out in a national day of celebration of democracy. I think it is
a much better system to have people actually go to the polls. That's what I
would prefer to do. Very often these days, we seem to experience a disconnect
between our communities and each other. I think you'd be mistaken at this point
to promote that by removing the need to go to the polls and visibly cast your
ballot.
JM: In your
capacity as a federal legislator, what role can you play in promoting the
universal right of suffrage for people with disabilities in the U.S.?
We are
looking to make changes now at the federal level. We want to make sure [the
electoral system is] consistent and as inclusive as possible. My staff and I
have had several discussions with national disabilities representatives. We
have also met with people in the Congress-both former secretaries of state and
those with an interest in election reforms-and are working together to see that
any election reform legislation that Congress passes includes certain minimum
standards to protect people at all levels and to ensure that we're allowing for
maximum inclusion in the elections process.
JM: What
advice would you give to an election official from another jurisdiction or
maybe even another country, a developing country that administers a system that
is not accessible…where do you start?
Well, you
start by talking to people, reaching out to different segments of the population,
whether it's election officials or the disability community-anybody that could
have input into the process of making change. I've always found that the best
way to make changes is to make everyone feel they have a stake in the process
and the success of the project. And by doing that, you are more likely to
succeed.
The
Honorable James Langevin is a United States Congressman and the former
secretary of state of Rhode Island.
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